The domestic passenger vehicle industry showed the first signs of gaining some momentum in February with a 6.2% growth in sales over last year, shrugging off withdrawal of excise duty concessions last December.
With only a month left, vehicles sales have grown by 4% in 2014-15 and looks set to top industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers' (SIAM's) earlier projections of a 1-3% growth.
Passenger vehicle sales including cars, SUVs and vans stood at 231,165 units last month over 217,750 units in February 2014.
"The growth in February is a reflection of a gradual improvement in consumer sentiment," said Sugato Sen, deputy director-general, SIAM. "We believe March would also be a good month and we will be able to grow at around 4% for 2014-15. Next year we expect the growth to pick up but I do not see a double-digit growth yet. It should still be better than this financial year."
All major car makers barring Mahindra and Mahindra saw robust growth in sales in February. Motorcycle sales struck the only discordant note with a 8.22% decline due to a fall in rural income as a result of poor harvest.
{{/usCountry}}All major car makers barring Mahindra and Mahindra saw robust growth in sales in February. Motorcycle sales struck the only discordant note with a 8.22% decline due to a fall in rural income as a result of poor harvest.
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